7 deadly sins for your marketing call to action

If there’s one thing guaranteed to upset marketers, it’s no conversions. The ultimate goal of your call to action and, subsequently, lead generation is to drive those objectives. Whether that be sales or increased traffic, good CTA marketing will get people converting.

A call to action, for example, is critical to the conversion process of your marketing campaign, and is incredibly easy to get wrong. In fact, you could be quashing your own customer conversions. Luckily, we’re sharing our tips on conversion optimisation. Essentially, how to get your customers buying.

The Deadly Sins…

As call to action examples go, this one is high up on the list. The language of your call to action button is essential to conversion optimisation. It’s likely the call to action will be the last message they read before choosing whether to contact you, or even spend their cash. The CTA has a direct impact on their willingness to engage with your brand, so you need to be persuasive but not bossy. Avoid text such as ‘submit’ or ‘download now’, and get a little more creative. In fact, the above terms are vague and a little domineering, which could have the opposite effect.

Opt for text such as ‘start saving now’, as these offer a clear benefit. One of our most significant marketing campaign ideas is to use the first person for your call to action button. Doing so will put you in the place of your consumer, and replicate the experience of talking to an actual human.

The whole point of your direct mail marketing is to take people through a journey, subsequently benefiting your company. If your call to action is hard to find, how likely are your consumers to take action? Not very. Some are too small and lost in the noise of your design rendering the hours of marketing campaign ideas and design worthless.

When it comes to lead generation ideas, we suggest using several CTA’s. Place one call to action near the top of your advertising mail. Another as your prospect reads through your direct mailer, and a third at the ‘end’ of the mailer, requiring them to take action without blasting them with demands.

There’s nothing more off-putting than several buttons demanding you to ‘sign up’ and offering discounts left, right and centre. Don’t put your user in the position to have to choose between your primary CTAs – they should not have to compete. Of course, a secondary CTA works, but too many and you risk customer paralysis. Make the path clear for your customer, and you stand a better chance of fulfilling your lead generation ideas.

You can emphasise the primary CTA through a number of factors:

• Bolding
• Break the colour pallet to highlight the CTA marketing text
• Place the primary call to action button front and centre
• Make one CTA larger than the other
• Add visual clues, such as arrows to point the consumer in the right direction

One of the best marketing campaign ideas for conversion is to prove others have done it too. If you want to reassure your consumer they are doing the right thing, show them the proof. Your lead may hesitate at the critical point of conversion, and a lack of social proof may cause them to pull the trigger on your mailer.

Social proof can take various formats: reviews, testimonials, star ratings and even user-generated content (Instagram pictures using your products etc.). However, if you do use the above, they must be context appropriate. For example, include reviews on the products you are promoting. Choose the call to action examples carefully, and test different sets to ensure your marketing mailer is as successful as can be.

When consumers move through the sales funnel, their needs change, as well as their level of commitment. Therefore, your call to action must change. Your CTA must reflect the point your lead is at for the best chance of conversion optimisation. For example, if you ask for too much early, you could lose them at the first hurdle. However, ask for too little at the last possible moment in the sales funnel, and their willingness to complete the journey may suffer. As you write your direct mail marketing copy, consider the stage they are at and write to reflect.

Urgency is one of our top lead generation ideas, especially for ‘pushing’ consumers along the sales funnel. People are extremely motivated to take action if they fear they may miss out on the opportunity. You can create this urgency through a number of factors: limited time discount, free membership until a specific date etc. Don’t give your prospect the time to sit back and evaluate, and appeal to their emotions. Your content must make them act NOW.

No one likes a brag. Unless you are the world’s largest company in the industry, or have received brilliant awards, leave the hype out. While you do want to command authority and reassure the consumers to follow the provided steps, you don’t want to sound like a used car salesman. Far greater lead generation ideas include asking an authoritative figure in your industry to provide a quote on working with your business, and the subsequent success.

Ultimately, good CTA marketing can spell the difference between your consumers acting upon your requests, and throwing your direct mailing in the bin. Our team have expert knowledge in producing marketing campaigns, and we even offer direct mail design services. You can contact the team at WDM today to begin crafting your campaign.